Railway-frog.



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Patented July 30, 1918.

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GEORGE FERBIS JACKSON-or MOUNT PLEASANT, TEXAS.

RAILWAY-FROG.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application lcd February 8, 19177.` Serial No. 147,416.

To all whom it may concern.` 'y Be it known that GEORGE F. JAcxsoN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mount Pleasant, in the county of Titusland State of Texas, has invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Frogs',

of which the following is a specification.;r My invention relates to that class of rail-l way frogs in which the frog is cast in one solid, integral structure.

The object of my invention is to provide a frog that will tend to minimize the danger of train derailment at switch crossings, and thus insuresafety in railway traffic. I at;

tain this obj ect by providing integral guards or shoulders in 'connection with the rail ribs of the frog, and by the other novel and useful features 'of construction' which are hereinafter fully described. s

In the accompanying drawing .Figure l is a top-plan view of the frog. Fig. 2, a vertical, longitudinal sectional view on the plane indicated'by the broken line 2 2 of Fig. 1, and y Fig. 3, a vertical, transverse, sectional view on the plane indicated by the broken line 3 3 of Fig. v1. y

Like reference characters mark thev same parts on all of the figures ofthe drawing.

My device comprises a base plate l, having bifurcations upon what will hereafter be known as its forward end. Upon these bifurcationsv are `located the rail ribs 2 and 2', which conform in dimension and contour to ordinary railway rails. Rising from the body vportion of the base plate, and extending longitudinally thereof are' 'the guards 3, and 3. The Aouter edges of these guards are cast in straightlines, whchrun' parallel tothe outeredges ofthe projecting base plate. y Y Near the other, or rear, lend of the base plate, and formed integral therewith is the frog point 4.. The divergent bifurcations of this frog point extend Aoutward beyond the body portion of the base plate and these bifurcations are formed like the rail ribs 2 and 2 into the shape and with the dimensions of' railway rails. Thepangle of divergence of the two outer sides of the frog point is of the same degree as the angle of convergence of the two inner sides of the rail ribs 2.and 2. The frog point is alsoV so posif tioned upon the Ybase plate that the outer edge of one of its sides is in direct line withV the inneredge of one of the rail ribs, while the corresponding edge of its other side-is likewise in direct line withthe inner edge Yof the other rail rib, so that the. flange of a railway train wheel movingforward along the inner face ofthe'rail head of either rail rib will take the appropriate side of theV frog point at the point -of crossing without divergence from a directline.

' The rail ribs .2- and 2 converge fromtheir Patented July 3o, 1918.

outer extremities inward` until a -point ,Y a,V located upon the body of `the base plate is reached. yHere their inner rail head faces are separated by a space of about twoV (2)` inches. graduallydiverge to their points oftermination. Pointz marks'the beginningof the frog point, and here the now divergent rail ribs 2 and' 2 are separatedfbya space of about four (4) inches. f The points-a and b mark respectively the spots where the flange of an approaching car wheel begins'to cease to contact with the rail head' ofV rib 2 or`2 and where it is brought in contact with the appropriate side ofthe frogl point. r'lne reverse is yof course true ofa lwheel approaching in' the opposite direction.

The guard portions Sand 3 are inform of solid, longitudinal lugs or shoulders extending nearly the entire length of the base rise to a height lof about two (2) Vinches above the upper surfaceof'the railribs 2- and 2 and of thezfrog point 4."

' At the meeting points of the forward bifurcations and-the baseplate properthe rail ribs spreadoutwardat c and lo. form- From this Vpoint Vonward 'they' ing laterally extended surfaces upon which i rail ribs 2 and 2', respectively, at 'anangle,

which from the point of beginning to a posi! tion opposite the point b; gradually'narrows,

85 plate, and parallel to its outer edges. They until at this point, both by reason of the cut of the guards and because of the outward direction taken by the ribs after passing point a, the rail ribs and the integral guards are almost brought into coalescence. From point the rail ribs,` which are now quite narrow, and the guards slope outward to their rounded points of termination near the rear end of the base plate proper.

The base plate 1 extends, on all sides, outward beyond the other superimposel portions of the frog so as to form a flange, in which openings may be formed through which spikes may be driven for holding the frog in position upon the railway ties.

The outward ends of the rail ribs and of the bifurcations of the frog point may be formed or arranged in any proper way for connection with the meeting ends of the railway track rails. This meeting may be se-Y cured by splice bars, or sh plates or otherwise.

From the foregoing description the use and application of my device will be readily understood.

In approaching what has been designated as the forward end of the frog, a train running upon the track rail which connects with either of the rail ribs 2 or 2 will necessarily have the flange of a wheel running on that track so positioned that on reaching the frog this flange will pass between its bifurcations and into the channel formed above the body plate proper by the opposed ribs 2 and 2. As the progress of this wheel continues and after the point a is reached, the contacting surfaces of this rib and of the tread of the wheel will gradually grow less as the rail rib slants outward. At last, on reaching the point Z) the rail rib will have sonarrowed that the tread of the wheel will entirely leave the rail rib, but will immediately be transferred to the frog point 4, which, as already explained, has its outer edges in direct line with the forward inner edges of the respective rail ribs. The flange of this wheel will now pass along the appropriate side of the frog point, and the wheel willV travel on to the track rail joined with the frog point.

It is the oliice of the guards 3 and 3 to insure the accurate and safe passage of the train wheels across the frog, and to provide a sure means for shifting the wheel flange out of contact with the rail rib upon which the wheel is traveling and into position upon the proper side of. the frog point l at the point of transfer.

As the train wheel moves forward beyond the point L the contact of its flange with the vertical side of the rail head of the rib upon which the wheel is traveling ceases and there is nothing to guide this wheel, or its mate traveling upon the opposite track, eX- cept the direct inertia of forward motion. Unless some means is provided to take the place of the guiding contact of the rail head a lateral shift is possible on the part of these wheels, which may, and often does, cause train derailments through failure of thevwheel to pass directly from the rail head tothe frog point in the proper manner. Ordinari-ly this danger is provided against by the use of an eXtra guard rail but the numerous accidents which have occurred at switch crossings prove how unreliable such a means of safety is.

In my invention this guard rail is supplanted by the'guards 3 and 3. Rising vertically above the treads of the rail ribs with which. they are formed, they act as' shoulders against whose inner faces the outer sides of a wheel will bear as a result of any tendency on the part of the wheel to shift outwardv after point a is passed. The vertical faces of these shoulders serve as guides and a train wheel in crossing the frog will be kept in proper position andz will also be gradually, safely and` Without shock deflected from the rail ribs onto theV frog point. This-latter result is accomplished by reason of the fact that at point 6 the inner verticalV faces of the guards 3 and 3 are suliiciently near to the center of the frog to force the flange of a wheel whose outerv side may bear against either of these faces intoa position where this flange must pass directly to one or the other sides of the frog point.

1n the foregoing description the operation of my device hasbeen set forth only 1n connection with a train approaching toward the forward end of the frog and fromv the rail ribs on to the frog point, but it is apparent without detailed description that the ofhces of the various parts of this device are equally well performed' when a train passes from the frog point on toone or the other of the rail ribs. In either case the shoulders of the portions 3 and 3 will hold the wheels in proper relation to the ribs and frog point. So that there may be no danger of sudden contact between a wheel. approaching over the frog point, and either the track ribs or the guarding shoulders, both the ribs and the parts 3 and 3 slope outward after passingpoint b, as illustrated.

Having now fully described my invention, what 1 claim is A railway frog comprising in one integral structure` a body portion, a frog point, divergent bifurcations extending from the body portion,.railf ribs formed upon thebifurcations and upon the body portion, and lguiding members also upon the bifurcations disposed adjacent to the rail ribs and adapted to revent a. lateral shift of train guiding members being curved outwardly to 10 wheels trave g upon the rail ribs, `the rail a common point at their forward ends. 'l ribs converging to a point in advance of the In testimony whereof I aiix my signature frog oint, and divergifng from this point inthe presence of two witnesses.

parel e1 with the sides o the fro point, and

the guiding members converging to a point GEORGE FERRIS JACKSON' opposite the point of the frog point, and di- Witnesses:

vergin from said point parallel with the S. P. ]oU.i\mERs, sides o the frog point, both the rail ribs and JOHN A. COOK.

Copies ot this patent be obtained tot ve cents each,'by addressing the Commissioner oi Patents,

Washington, D. 0." 

